


Trans Voltron Week

by platonicharmonics



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Body Dysphoria, Found Family, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Nonbinary Character, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Team as Family, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-25 07:17:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9808877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonicharmonics/pseuds/platonicharmonics
Summary: Eight days of prompts featuring the universe's legendary transgender defenders, written by a transgender person.I want to explore different combinations of team dynamics, so characters being trans or cis will most likely change prompt-to-prompt. (Hopefully, this should also accommodate many different headcannons. *Wink.*)





	1. Day 1 - Coming Out (Shiro)

**Author's Note:**

> Writing weeks are kind of my go-to staple, so as soon as I saw [trans-legendary-defenders](https://trans-legendary-defenders.tumblr.com/)'s Trans Voltron Week, I was absolutely _sold_.
> 
> I'm starting this off two days late because college/student organizations bull-rushed me, but!! I'm here now!

**5 Times Shiro Tried to Come Out to the Paladins (+1 Time He Did)**

**1.)**

The Paladins were jovial at the dinner table the evening they finally managed to form Voltron of their own volition. Lance and Keith were only glaring at each other in jest, Pidge was actually smiling instead of brooding, and Hunk seemed… less tense. Allura was beaming at the head of the table and Coran frequently went out of his way to praise them.

“We’re all in this together,” Shiro declared after Coran’s third spiel, ignoring Lance’s snort at what Shiro figured to be High School Musical flashbacks. “Give us enough time, and we’ll become the greatest team in the universe.”

Hunk puffed up and smiled. “Man, this is so great! Look at us – we’re more than just pilots for a mega awesome fighting robot, we’re comrades! Family! No lies, no secrets, just a buncha guys hanging out and punching evil!”

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck while Pidge grimaced. He opened his mouth to… say _something_ , but Lance and Keith had already launched into a banter that was becoming less and less good-natured by the second. Surely it was too late to mention it. There was no way to make it natural – the moment had passed.

When Lance prepared a spoon-catapult of food goo at Keith’s face, Shiro reached over and shoved it back down into the bowl, scolding, “ _Children_ , settle down.”

Hunk sighed and drooped. “This was not the ‘family’ thing I was going for guys.”

**2.)**

“Pidge, there you are.”

Pidge perked up and looked at him from where she was sitting on the ridge. She looked less angry, now, and more… sad. “Why would you hurt my brother? You were friends,” she asked quietly.

Shiro’s hands curled, applying just enough pressure to ground him. “I did it to save him.”

Pidge looked up. “What?”

Shiro sat down beside her and explained, “My memory of the event came back when we were fighting the monster. Your dad was being sent off with the weaker prisoners to a work camp. Meanwhile, Matt and I were forced to fight in the gladiator arena. Matt was going to fight first, but he was scared. We all were. So I… attacked the sentry, took its weapon and turned on your brother. I acted violent and blood-thirsty. I… I scared him. But it gave me enough time to tell him to take care of his father before they took me away.”

Pidge gaped at him. “You saved him?” She blinked, her eyes glistening. “You attacked him so they would choose you instead.” Her lower lip trembled a moment before she threw herself into a hug around his middle. “I’m so sorry I doubted you! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Shiro’s shock wore off, freeing his smile. He embraced her, saying, “I can tell you really miss them. I know they miss you, too. Your brother and father would be proud of you, Katie.” Pidge gasped and looked up at him. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” Pidge let go of him and wiped away her tears.

Shiro debated with himself for a long moment, starting and stopping on the question he wanted to ask. Finally, he gently hedged, “They _were_ right about you, yeah? That you’re a girl?”

Pidge huffed a laugh and looked at him, skeptical. “What else would I be?”

The confession Shiro had been working himself up towards died in his throat. Instead, he stood up, held out his hand, and smiled. “Come on. Let’s get back to the Castle.”

**3.)**

“We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people!”

Lance quirked an eyebrow at Hunk. “ _Wow_ , you are _really_ hung up on this lady.”

Hunk’s expression grew even tighter. “ _No_ , it’s not like that! Look – guys – when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home, they’ve been under his thumb for so long that they don’t even know what it is to be _free!_ It’s up to us to set this right – _this_ is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about! It’s time to man up!”

Shiro felt an odd sense of pride at Hunk’s passion. Obviously, they had to hurry. “Then let’s get moving. Time to go defend the universe.”

As they all began walking away, Pidge straightened and called, “Wait! I’ve got something to say first.” Everyone stopped and turned around. “I… need to come clean, and I’m afraid this may change the way you all think about me.” She looked down at the ground. “Just so there are no more secrets between us anymore… I can’t ‘man up.’” She looked up at them all. “I’m a girl.” Lance’s face contorted into something… grotesquely bewildered. “I-I mean- I can ‘man up’ because that’s just a figure of speech I don’t have to actually be a man to ‘man up,’ I just have to be tough, but what I’m saying-”

Lance finally broke free from his stupor. “”WHA-?! YOU’RE A GIRL?! _HOW?!_ ” he screamed.

Allura smiled and calmly said, “I’ve known for some time. But I’m glad you shared it with everyone.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Hunk teased.

Keith grinned. “Oh, yeah, me too.”

Coran leaned down over Allura’s shoulder and stuttered, “Wait, w- we were supposed to think you were a _boy?_ ”

Shiro pushed himself through the lead weight in his stomach and the hypocritical bitterness in his mouth to praise, “Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin.”

Pidge beamed and heaved a sigh. “It’s good to get that off my chest. Now let’s launch this Castle-ship!”

Lance shook his head again, lagging behind. “Wait, what?! Pidge is a _girl_ and the Castle’s a _ship_? How long have I been out?!”

Shiro convinced himself that his transness wasn’t that important a secret to keep from the team.

**4.)**

Shiro groggily fought to consciousness to find the ecstatic expressions of his teammates staring at him through healing pod glass. Allura hurried over and deactivated the pod; when the glass de-materialized, Shiro’s legs folded like jelly, and he fell into her arms.

Everyone cried out “Shiro!” in unison and flocked around him as Allura propped him up against her shoulder and supported his weight.

Shiro huffed a laugh and eased, “I’m fine, everyone. Thanks for the warm welcome.” Five pairs of arms joined Allura’s to crush him in a group hug. “Although I probably won’t be fine if this keeps up,” he wheezed.

Everyone sprang back and began talking at once. He heard stuttered apologies from Lance, relieved rambling from Hunk, Altean techno-babble from Coran, something about lizards from Keith, and playful teasing from Pidge. Shiro looked down and saw that he wasn’t in his armor anymore – only his skin-tight under-suit. He blushed. This wasn’t how he _expected_ them to find out, but-

Allura chuckled. “No need to be _modest_ , Shiro. We’ve all seen each other in our underwear at least once. We’re just glad you’re okay.”

“Uh… Look, guys… This wasn’t how I wanted you to find out,” Shiro sighed.

“Find out what?” Pidge prompted.

“There’s no need to beat around the bush, Pidge.”

Lance wrinkled his brow. “There’s a bush?”

“What’s the bush?” Hunk added.

Shiro blinked, slowly. “You… didn’t…?”

Keith’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong, Shiro? Did we miss something? We didn’t examine your wounds, really, we just got you out of your armor and into the pod as soon as possible.”

_Now’s the time. Just tell them! Tell them!_

“…It’s- It’s nothing like that, Keith, but I remembered something. I remember who freed me from the Galra ship. He was a Galra named Ulaz.”

**5.)**

“I’m… dead…” Lance moaned.

Keith made a long, low, groaning noise as Hunk yawned. Pidge whined, “Can we, just… take a week off?”

Shiro looked around at the bags under everyone’s eyes and the quakes in their limbs. Coran was stroking Allura’s hair where she was half-asleep on his shoulder. He sighed. “I think we’ve earned a new break. Until the next distress signal comes, I suggest everyone get some sleep. That does _not_ include lounging on a couch or in a pool.”

Keith made another long, low groan. Lance clicked and _tssk_ ed at him. Shiro raised an eyebrow. Lance grimaced and meekly looked away.

“Good, because I feel like I could sleep for a thousand years,” Hunk mumbled. “Does the couch _have_ to count? Can’t I just sleep here?”

Shiro supported his weight on the back of the couch where Hunk and Lance were lying down. “Research proves we get better sleep in our own beds, so yes.”

“Technically the beds here aren’t our own beds,” Pidge quipped.

Keith finally peeked his eyes out from underneath his arm. “Any bed I sleep in for more than a week is ‘my own bed.’”

Hunk let out a long whine, then made a grand show of getting to his feet. Shiro smiled and shook his head. When everyone else began rustling, he haltingly asked, “Actually, would everyone mind staying a minute more? I need to tell you all something.”

Keith lowered his arm and blinked at him as everyone warily settled down. “Is it serious?”

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck. “Well… it is to me. And it’s something I’ve been putting off telling you guys for far too long. We’re Paladins of Voltron, a family. You deserve to know something about me. I-”

The Castle alarm chirped, and a distress call began playing on the loudspeaker. Everyone lurched to their feet and began wandering towards the main communication panel, bleary-eyed and completely distracted. Shiro dragged his hand down his face and groaned.

**+1)**

Shiro’s new connection to the Black Lion was something he could feel in the core of his being. He could sense its presence wherever he was on the ship; it must have been the relationship of mutual respect and trust Black and Zarkon used to have, the remnants of which allowed Zarkon to connect to it across the universe until the Lion finally let him go. Shiro did not take his Lion’s action lightly; he was determined to be a better Paladin, to his Lion, to his team, and to the universe.

That night, when the team was finishing up Hunk’s super-special artisan redesign dish of whatever was in the Castle’s kitchen with plate-licking gusto, Shiro wiped his mouth and announced, “If nobody minds, I have something I’d like to get off my chest.”

Everyone looked up from their plates with curiosity. Allura gave him a warm smile, her hair still a little asymmetrical from the mice’s makeover. “Of course not, Shiro. What is it?”

Shiro glanced down at the table, took a deep breath, then looked up to meet everyone’s gaze. “When I bonded with my Lion today, it made me realize the importance of mutual trust, respect, and understanding. I’m afraid I’ve hid a part of myself from all of you for far too long. Before, I was either too afraid or it just didn’t seem like the right time, but I’m done making excuses; this is an important part of who I am, and all of you deserve to know.” He lifted his chin. “I’m a trans man.”

Everyone stared at him for a long moment. Finally, Hunk said, “So… You’re part robot? More than the arm, I mean?”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “ _No_ , Hunk, he’s not part robot.” She looked to Shiro for permission to explain.

Shiro shook his head slightly and turned to Hunk. “Nothing quite like that, Hunk. It means I was raised as a girl, before I realized I was male.”

Lance looked like steam was about to come out of his ears from how hard he was thinking. “Wait… _what?_ Why would your parents do that to you?!”

Shiro couldn’t help but laugh. “They didn’t do it on _purpose_. They raised me based on my birth certificate.”

Lance’s eye twitched as Hunk squinted and went, “Hang on…”

Keith finally shook himself and sat up, wide-eyed. “Shiro, you- you didn’t feel comfortable telling us until _now_?” Allura put her hand over her mouth.

“Only at first!” He held up a defensive hand. “You have to understand, most of you were strangers to me, and I’d only just recently escaped the Galra. I trusted you all in good will, but I didn’t want to do anything that could jeopardize our mission.” He looked at Keith and Pidge. “Before the Kerberos mission, I guess… I just could never find the courage.”

Coran threw up his hands and yelled, “ _Wait a minute_ , wait a minute! Some of us are still held up on ‘birth certificate.’” He leaned in close over the table. “Earthlings _assign genders_ on _certificates_?”

“I don’t think I fully get it, but…” Hunk shrugged, then smiled. “That’s just my fault for not learning about this stuff before – I’ll fix that. I’m still behind you, Shiro. We all are.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck and nodded.

Allura smiled and put her hands on the table. “This was obviously very difficult for you to do, Shiro. Thank you for trusting us.” Keith put his hand on his shoulder and grinned. Coran’s eyes crinkled, Pidge and Hunk beamed, and Lance gave him a thumb’s up.

Shiro ducked his head and smiled, then looked back up at them all. “Thank you, everyone. I’m so happy to call you my teammates.”


	2. Day 2 - Aliens!! (Keith)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith knows he's part Galra, but he still feels the need to search for his true identity.
> 
>  
> 
> (Featuring alien biology and gender headcannons from the author!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super special shout-out to [this post](http://platonicharmonics.tumblr.com/post/157168308063/lance-the-blue-paladin-since-we-havent-seen-any) and [this fanart](http://platonicharmonics.tumblr.com/post/157450862823/kabuki-akuma-i-dont-care-i-still-like-thace) for inspiring this fic!

Keith stared up at the ceiling of his room for what must have been the better half of the morning. They were all taking Shiro’s disappearance pretty hard, but Keith didn’t have it in him to bring up how… _strange_ he felt lately. It seemed whiny and selfish. 

The Castle was on its way to the multi-dimensional spire in the Andromeda galaxy where they hoped the Black Lion would be able to connect with Shiro, no matter where, when, or what dimension he’s in. It was a three day journey, and most of the Voltron team was spending the down-time doing anxious busywork. Kolivan wandered the halls like a catatonic spectre, mourning Antok. 

As for Keith, well… He always knew that something never quite sat ‘right’ with him. Something would twinge in his gut every time he looked in a mirror, there were long periods of time where he’d feel… detached, and he never really felt like a boy – never felt like a girl either – didn’t feel like anything. He always managed to write it all off until he learned he was part Galra. He hoped that discovering that part of himself would make those other things go away, but they’d only gotten worse.

Normally, he would have gone to Shiro for advice, but with him gone – he blinked away some tears – he was at a loss for who to turn to. He considered approaching Pidge and Allura, the two trans women on the team, but he _knew_ that his problem wasn’t that he was actually a girl. Keith stiffened and sat up in his bed – even Shiro may not have been able to help him, being a trans man. He definitely didn’t trust Hunk and Lance to be authorities on gender _or_ aliens.

Keith sighed and reluctantly made his way out of his room to hunt down the last person on his list.

\--

“You want to know about gender on Altea? Well, why didn’t you say so earlier!” Coran flipped up his welding mask and stepped back from where he was welding a new shield pylon to the interior hull. It was cramped in the engineering space behind the Castle’s wall panels, so Keith had long since given up on trying to get comfortable. “Are you looking for something specific, or would you like the _grand history?_ ”

“Uh… maybe just in terms I can understand?”

“Ah, so human metaphors it is then!” Coran twirled his moustache. “Hmm… well, Altean gender works off of a binary. We have ‘Altos,’ which are similar to Earth’s ‘males,’ and ‘Altas,’ which are similar to Earth’s ‘females.’ You see these markings on our cheeks?” Coran pointed to the blue triangles on his face. “When we’re born, the color of our markings reveal our gender to our parents! Isn’t that neat?! We don’t even have to know how to talk!”

Keith tilted his head. “Wait… what about…” he blushed slightly. “It’s not based on what’s between your legs?”

Coran threw a hand in the air and barked a laugh. “Why, goodness, _no!_ That would be a nightmare! Nobody would be able to tell what anybody’s gender was! Also, we’d have to be naked all the time!”

Keith blinked. “Uh… on humans, that’s what they’ve assigned gender to for centuries.”

“ _Pfffft_ , that’s because human genitals are permanent! Not only have Alteans documented over six thousand variations of genitalia in our species, but they also change frequently – some on a daily basis!”

“Huh… Cool.” Keith rubbed the back of his neck. “So… May I ask about Allura?”

“Oh, why, certainly! She’s very comfortable about her status. The closest thing you humans have is your term ‘transgender,’ but transgender humans occur at a rate far more frequent than transgender Alteans! An Altean is born with incorrect markings only once every millennia!”

“So Allura’s markings were blue when she was born?”

“Yup! King Alfor raised her as a prince before she realized she was _Princess_ Allura when she was just thirty years old, barely a teenager!” Coran wiped a tear. “After that, her markings changed to pink!”

“Were any Alteans… I don’t know… mean about it?”

Coran’s eyes bulged. “Oh, _absolutely_ not! Some species get weird about sex and gender – humans, unfortunately, are among them – but for _our_ species, the reveal of a transgender Altean is a blessed event and cause for celebration!” He sniffled and smiled wider, wiping his eyes again. “I still remember tailoring her first party dress!”

Keith grinned. “I’m glad to hear Altea was so supportive of her.”

“Indeed!” Coran crossed his arms and leaned back against a support beam. He seemed lost in fond memories for a few seconds before he shook himself out of them to ask, “What brought this on, anyway, Keith? Was it just curiosity?”

“Um,” Keith paused and rubbed at his shoulder. “I was wondering if Alteans had… more than two genders.”

“Nope! Just the two!”

Keith frowned a moment, then ducked his head. He forced a smile again to say, “Thanks for the lesson, Coran,” then ducked out through the wall panel before Coran could keep talking.

\--

Keith sat down cross-legged in front of the healing pod where Thace was recovering from his torture and burns. Even though they’d only interacted with each other for a short period of time, he felt more comfortable around him than with Kolivan or any of the other Blades of Marmora. Even still, Thace wasn’t his first choice – he’d approached Kolivan in the hall earlier, but Kolivan stiffly asked, “Is there something serious you wish to discuss, Paladin?” and Keith simply shook his head and hurried away.

Keith stared at the palms of his hands where they lay on his knees. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He slumped and closed his eyes. “I don’t know if it’s the human side or the Galra side that’s messing me up so bad.”

He was startled when he heard the _swish_ ing of the healing pod glass unsealing. He lurched to his feet and rushed forward to catch Thace when he fell forward out of the pod, then helped him step out of the pod and onto the floor. Thace looked around the room, shocked, then turned to him and blinked. “It’s _you_. Where… Where am I?”

Keith was sure he looked just as startled. “You’re in the Castle of Lions. The rest of Team Voltron and the Blades of Marmora are here, too. Voltron defeated Zarkon and we managed to escape.”

Thace sighed and swayed slightly. “I think… I may need to sit.” Keith helped him down so he could sit on the stairs; Thace held his head and muttered, “Thank you.”

Keith glanced at the doorway. “I should really go get the others and let them know you’re up.”

Thace looked over at him. “If you would, I’d prefer some time to get my bearings before I see the others. This is all… sudden.” Keith straightened and nodded. He turned to leave, but stopped when he heard, “I… I wouldn’t mind your company, Paladin.”

Keith tensed, then relaxed and nodded. He walked back over to Thace’s side and sat beside him, pulling his knees up to his chest.

For a while, they simply sat in companionable silence while Thace breathed through his headache. Eventually, Keith began to tap out a rhythm on his knees with his fingers, softly. Thace sat up and glanced over, a small smile flickering over his face.

“I don’t wish to bore you. You _can_ leave, young one.”

Keith looked over at him and stilled his hands. He ducked his head and ventured, “Actually, I… Thought maybe I could ask you some questions.”

Thace furrowed his brows. “I’m not sure if I’ll have your answers, or if I’m the proper one to ask.”

“It’s… Well, it’s about Galra, actually.”

Thace blinked. “Oh.”

“Um.” Keith wrung his hands. “What is gender like for the Galra?”

Thace blinked again, then grinned. “Easy. There is no such thing.”

“I’m not sure I follow.” Keith’s expression must have been amusing, because Thace chuckled. 

“The terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ used by other species have no real meaning for Galra. We are mono-sexed and mono-gendered, so we never developed the concepts in the first place. Our language doesn’t even have gendered pronouns.”

Keith ran a hand through his hair. “So… when other species use ‘he’?”

“In ancient times, when we made first contact with alien species, they used masculine pronouns and terms. Galra adopted them to make interspecies interactions easier.”

Keith squinted and took the time to word his next sentence the way he wanted. “All right… how do Galra reproduce?”

Thace hummed. “I wondered when you would ask. Galra biology is omni-compatable. We can bear offspring from any species; it is how our own species is so diverse.”

Keith’s eyes glazed over for a minute. “That… explains so much…” After a long moment, he finally blinked and turned to Thace. “So, is there a word that Galra use for their gender? Or… absence of gender, really?”

Thace’s eyes crinkled. “I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that the word and concept we use is actually of human origin. It is ‘agender.’”

Keith was stricken. He unfolded his legs and let his hands rest in his lap. “Agender…” He beamed. “So nothing’s wrong with me?”

Thace ruffled his hair. “There never was, child.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I _would_ have went further down the "Thace is Keith's secret dad" route, but I feel like that should be its own fic.


	3. Day 3 - Armor (Hunk)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk loses their headband and quickly becomes distraught.

“ _NO!_ WHERE IS IT?!”

When Hunk finally overturned the last corner of their room, they went careening out into the hallway to bolt to where the rest of the team was sitting in the dining room eating breakfast. They bounced off the doorway and yelled, blubbering and crying, “ _Guy-y-y-s!_ I need help!”

Shiro was so startled he snatched his butter-knife and looked ready to fight, Pidge froze with her fork in her mouth, Lance tipped his chair over, Keith seemed to be frantically looking them over for injuries, Coran had a finger in the air and seemed to be deep in the process of thinking, and Allura simply sat up and gently prompted, “What’s wrong, Hunk?”

“ _It’s my headband! I can’t find it!_ ” They sniffled.

“I _thought_ something was missing!” Coran proudly declared, snapping his fingers.

Lance clambered back up off of the floor and sat his chair back up, huffing. “ _Hunk_ , why are you freaking out? It’s just a little ribbon!”

“No, you don’t understand, it’s not just a ‘little ribbon,’ okay? It was a gift from my parents after I came out to them as genderqueer!” Tears spilled over their cheeks.

Shiro’s eyebrows shot up; he finally set the butter knife down and asked, “Do you remember where you last saw it?”

“On my _head!_ ”

Shiro sighed and looked at the others. “Anyone else feel up for hunting down Hunk’s headband after breakfast?”

Unanimously, the entire team agreed, nodding their heads and reassuring Hunk that they’d help them find the band. Hunk smiled despite themself.

“Wouldn’t you like some breakfast first? We saved you a plate!” Pidge offered with a smile and a wink, patting the seat beside her.

“Mmm…” Hunk wiped away their tears. “ _Okay_ , I _guess_ …”

\--

The team spent the entire day scouring the Castle for any sign of Hunk’s headband. Even the mice pitched in, searching under the floor grates and into the pipe system. By the time midnight came and went, most of the team had given up and gone to bed. The only ones left were Hunk and Lance, searching every nook and cranny of the engine room with red and bleary eyes.

“Man, I hate to say this, but I don’t think your headband’s on the ship,” Lance sighed, slowly standing up from his crouch and popping his back.

Hunk kept peeking behind the current pipes. “It _has to be!_ ”

“Well, remember that last fight we did yesterday in that Galra mine? Er… the day before yesterday? And your helmet got knocked off when you blocked that blow for me from that huge guy and you got that deep cut on your forehead and you were bleeding all over the place and we all freaked out?”

“Yeah?” Hunk huffed, still searching. After about ten seconds, Lance’s implication finally set in. “Oh… Oh no,” they whispered. They sat down heavily on the metal walkway and felt the tears well up again. Lance walked up from behind and sat down beside them.

When Hunk began crying again, Lance stuttered, “H-Hey… look on the bright side, right? You’ve got other stuff from your parents!”

“It’s not the same,” Hunk sighed, hugging their middle. “I had that headband ever since I was twelve. It was like… armor. The other kids, and even a good number of adults, they’d- well, they never used the right pronouns, they’d say hurtful things if I wasn’t acting ‘boyish’ enough, they made fun of my identity and called me crazy and other really nasty stuff on top of all the _fat jokes_ , but that headband? I’d tie it around my head and I felt like I could take on the world. It was a reminder that no matter what, there were people who supported and loved me for who I was.”

Lance frowned, then tentatively wrapped an arm around Hunk’s shoulders.

\--

The next morning, when Hunk morosely made their way down to breakfast, the entire team was huddled around the table, murmuring excitedly. When they heard them walk in, they spun around. Shiro smiled and greeted, “Morning, Hunk! We’ve got a surprise for you.” When Hunk straightened up in curiosity, Shiro nodded at Lance, who brought his hands out from behind his back.

In Lance’s hands was a long ribbon, made up of blue, black, red, green, pink, and purple cloth squares all sewn together.

“I woke everyone up last night and told them what you told me after you went to bed,” Lance explained, avoiding eye contact, “so then we spent the early morning cutting out squares from the stuff we don’t wear that match our colors and made you this ribbon.”

Allura clapped her hands excitedly and added, “I’m represented by the pink!”

“And I’m the purple!” Coran chirped.

Keith grinned. “You still have people who love and support you, no matter what.” Pidge made the ‘I love you’ sign with her hand.

Hunk beamed at them, crying new and happy tears. They hastily grabbed the ribbon, tied it around their head, and immediately crushed all of them into a group hug. In that moment, surrounded by their laughing teammates hugging them back, Hunk knew that as long as this little family of theirs stayed together, they’d have all the armor against the universe they could ever need.


	4. Day 4 - Free Day (Paladins)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins must delve into each other's deepest memories in order to forge a new bond and make Voltron even more powerful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I sat down and thought about what I wanted to do for the free day, I ended up thinking back to when a friend of mine was trying to coax me into watching the show. After listening to her description, I thought that Voltron sounded like a 5-pilot Jaeger from _Pacific Rim_. This naturally lead to, "Hey, you know what sounds fun? A 5-way Drift."
> 
> I decided to go down a slightly more serious route than the past fics with the Paladins. There’s some brief flashes of dysphoria and bullying, so please beware.

Coran and Allura looked out to the five Paladins in the main Lion Hub, where the pilots stood at attention in their armor. Allura held her hands behind her back and announced, “Now that you all have developed deeper connections with your Lions, it is time for you all to develop deeper connections with each other.”

Pidge smirked and tilted her head. “Really? ‘Cause I already feel pretty deeply connected to these guys.”

“Aww, you _do_ care!” Lance sing-songed.

Hunk laughed at Pidge’s eye-roll and added, “Seriously, I’ve never had friends as great as all of you. We all trust each other with our lives and watch each other’s backs, what more is there to prove?”

“It’s not about ‘proving’ anything to each other,” Allura corrected. “In order for Voltron to be at its most powerful, you must all not only fight as a single unit, but as a _single entity_.”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. “But we already fight as one. There’s no problem with our current technique.”

Coran pointed at him with a flourish. “ _Right_ you are, Keith! But you’re missing the point! The technology used to create the Lions is optimized for cognitive drifting; the Paladins of old mastered it with their Lions, but never with each other, and look what happened to them!” Coran grimaced and mimed a slicing motion at his neck.

Shiro stepped forward, expression pinched. “We’d _never_ do that to each other- _I_ would _never_ -”

Allura silenced him with a stern look. “You _must_ ensure that you never turn on each other, that you each feel the others as if they were a part of your own being. So far, you five have been fighting as one. In the cognitive drift, you must reach out to each other and _become_ one.”

The other four began to protest, but Shiro sighed and turned to the others. “They’re right, team. We promised that we’d become the best we could be, and this is a part of that. Whatever can give us an edge against Zarkon and any other evil in the universe, we have to take it.”

The other four stared at him, then sighed collectively.

\--

Once all the Lions were floating beside the Castle, Coran’s voice prompted over the comm, “ _Is everybody feeling open and free with your emotions?_ ”

“This is already weird,” Hunk complained.

“ _It’s only going to get weirder_ ,” Allura’s voice chimed.

Coran forged on. “ _Now, on the count of three, everyone needs to reach out beyond their Lions and enter each other’s heads! Ready? One… two… three!_ ”

The Paladins closed their eyes and tried to feel for each other in the drift. When all five of them connected, a sudden onslaught of memories both familiar and foreign flashed rapidly through their heads – flashes of families, fields, houses, hands, faces, some of them happy, many of them mean, broken glass, blood-

The five of them broke apart, heaving for breath and sweating. Pidge swallowed and yelled, “ _I don’t like this!_ Can’t we just keep doing what we did before?!”

Lance shuddered and yelled, “I’m with Pidge! My boundaries are _so_ violated right now!”

Allura patiently explained, “ _You must be open to showing the darkest parts of yourselves to each other. Accepting your fellow Paladins is crucial._ ”

“We already accept each other,” Keith huffed, bristling.

“ _If you trusted your teammates enough to make that claim, you wouldn’t have broken the drift._ ”

Shiro forced himself to let go of Black’s controls where his hands had been clenched, white-knuckled. “I…” he began, then trailed off. “I… I think another part of this is that we don’t want to subject the others to what we’ve gone through.”

Coran excitedly replied, “ _That’s exactly why you_ should! _You’ll share each other’s burdens and become stronger as a result!_ ”

Shiro hung his head. “It’s not that simple, Coran.”

Hunk sat up in their chair. “Why can’t it be that simple? You’re the one who’s always telling us that we’re stronger together, Shiro! None of us should have to carry things alone. That includes _you_.”

Pidge shifted in her seat. “I… I guess… I’ll try again.”

Lance gave a small groan before sighing, “I’m with Pidge. Again.”

“I’m in too,” Keith agreed, tired.

Shiro slumped in his chair. “Okay. All right. If… If we’re all certain.” He felt the other four nod. A small smile found its way onto his face; he sat up again. “Then on my cue. Three… two… one!”

The five of them reached out to each other once more. The memories all came flooding back - families, fields, houses, hands, faces, some of them happy, many of them mean, broken glass, bloody clothes, chubby brown toes in beach sand, a decorated gravestone covered in food, a colorful mandala, a dirty Cattlemen’s Association ball cap, and a bracelet charm reading _Katie_. After the images came a flood of sensations – warmth, cold, comfort, pain, and the sickening crawl of dysphoria, swiftly accompanied by more memories.

There was Pidge’s toddler feet dwarfed in her mother’s high heels; Hunk wearing a bright yellow skirt and a white blouse; Lance frantically tearing open the packaging of a binder; Keith hastily pulling a beanie over his short hair; Shiro standing in front of a mirror in a girl’s school uniform with long black hair, scissors in his hands; the angry screaming face of an old Hispanic woman; a _Happy Birthday Son_ card thrown in the trash; Shiro stripped naked and forced into a Galra cell; Pidge sobbing while trying to pull gum out of her long hair; Hunk’s skinned knees in the shadow of jeering bullies.

The five of them almost broke apart again when even worse memories and feelings began to surface, but with a sudden wave of renewed effort, they purposefully fought off the others’ traumatic and dysphoric memories with their own memories of the team. Gradually, the stream of fear and revulsion shifted into a stream of love and acceptance – there was Pidge blushing after Lance called her his sister; Hunk giving Keith a cake reading _Nonbinary Club Birthday Special_ ; Shiro reassuring Lance that it was okay to wear a sports bra instead of a binder into combat and that he’d do it too; Pidge, Hunk, and Keith talking about the pros and cons of dresses; and a shelf full of four different _#1 Dad_ mugs in the Castle kitchen.

All five felt their hearts beating as one and their thoughts flowing together in the same rhythm. The bad thoughts were still there, but the team built their strength and bond on top of them, forging something special, beautiful, strong, and entirely their own. 

When they opened their eyes, it was as Voltron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and Blake Perlman [made a song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQDx9BYGv4A) for Pacific Rim about the Drift?


	5. Day 5 - Comfort (Allura)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura has been carrying her pain, grief, and dysphoria unchecked for far too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something that has always bothered me is that I have seen angst/comfort pieces for all the Paladins, but I've never seen anything that addresses the absolute hell Allura must be going through. Therefore, I took initiative.
> 
> I go **hard** in addressing grief and dysphoria in this fic, kids. I used a lot of pain from my own past to color Allura and Shiro, so please be careful.

“Princess?”

Allura stiffened and hurriedly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“Allura?”

She sniffled. “I’m over here, Shiro.” She finally looked over her shoulder and saw Shiro step into the light of the doorway. “What is it? Am I needed?”

Shiro slowly looked around the dim room that used to house the AI of King Alfor, then looked at Allura’s tear-stained face. His expression softened. “You missed lunch, and we all got worried.” He slowly walked towards where she was sitting next to the hologram platform, then sat down beside her. He held out a lidded bowl to her containing Coran’s latest goo. “I brought you your share.”

Allura pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head in the sling of her dress. “I’m not hungry.”

“Allura… You’ve been exhausting yourself lately. I know you haven’t been resting, but you at _least_ need to eat.”

Without looking at him, she murmured, “I am no child, Shiro. I am a grown woman, even older than you. This may work on the Paladins, but it won’t work on me.”

Shiro sighed and set the bowl down beside her. Instead of giving up and leaving, he crossed his legs to get more comfortable. “Will you at least tell me what’s wrong?” A fresh wave of tears welled in Allura’s eyes. She bit her lip. In the corner of her vision, she saw Shiro look down. “I just want to help,” he whispered.

Allura shuddered a teary breath. “It’s all so much.”

Shiro looked back over to her. “What is?”

“ _Everything_.”

He paused for a long moment before gently prompting, “Where do you want to start?”

She finally leaned away from her knees and looked up towards the ceiling, blinking the tears out of her eyes. “I miss Father.” Shiro didn’t say anything, just patiently waited for her to continue. “It’s… more than just that, though. Whenever I was afraid, or uncertain, or… or doubtful, I’d go to Father. He’d always make me feel so special. ‘My little Princess,’ he called me… ‘My darling girl,’ ‘Dearest daughter.’ He loved me so much and accepted me so completely… And now he’s _gone_.” Her voice broke on the last word. She clenched her jaw against a sob and hung her head.

Shiro’s hand hovered above his knee for a moment before it sank back down. “I’m so sorry, Allura. It’s terrible that you lost him so suddenly.”

A sob finally escaped her throat when she continued, “It gets so much worse whenever I think of Altea… All of my people, gone, _murdered_ … Coran and I are the only ones left, and I know he puts on a brave face and acts silly and happy, but I can tell that there’s grief in him, too, and he’s pushing it down for _my sake_.” She wiped her face with her sleeve again. Shiro placed his hand on her knee and squeezed encouragingly. 

Allura swallowed and continued, “The worst thing of all is that I thought I was over my feelings of shame and doubt about my body, but it’s come _back_. It always flared up at its worst whenever I was anxious or depressed, but it’s never been this bad before, and usually Father or a walk through the capitol would make me feel better but they’re all gone, and Coran tries his best but it’s _not enough_ and I feel so _guilty_ because he’s like a second father to me and-” she began losing her breath “-he deserves so much better, and the _universe_ deserves so much better, because I’m supposed to be brave and strong and confident and lead the revolt against Zarkon, I’m supposed to be _Princess Allura_ , but-” she began hyperventilating “-I keep thinking stupid thoughts like ‘You’re just making it up’ and I don’t feel like the _Princess_ of _anything_ and I’m so _selfish_ and- _and_ -”

Shiro wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, tucking her head under his as she sobbed and clung to him so tightly his joints popped.

They stayed like that for a long time while Allura cried herself out. When she finally calmed down, Shiro leaned her back enough so she could see his face, wide-eyed, brow-furrowed, jaw set. 

“Allura, listen to me. You are the most selfless, noble, caring, determined, and beautiful woman I’ve ever met. Royal titles may not mean much to you anymore, but the universe sees you as _their_ Princess. And as for the rest of us? You’re _our_ Allura.” His expression softened and he sighed, settling down again. He slid his hands from her shoulders to her hands and held them. “I know it’s hard when your brain goes to those dark places,” he said softly. “Sometimes, it’s grief. Sometimes, it’s… fear, or trauma. I’ve…” 

He took a deep breath and confessed, “I still go through episodes where my body feels _wrong_ , and nothing feels good enough.” Allura nodded. “I feel lost, and alone, and hopeless.” She nodded again. “But… I always try and hold on to the things that I have _now_. I have my bond with my Lion, I have my team of punk teenagers who always make me laugh and have my back, I have Coran who’s like the weird uncle I never had, and I have…” He smiled. “You. My friend.”

Allura’s mouth twitched upwards. She blinked away the last of her tears. “What happens when even thinking of the good things doesn’t work?”

Shiro hummed. “When it gets that bad, I ground myself to my environment. I force myself to just… stop. I take a moment, breath, and find myself. Then I do something that I can focus on, something that makes my body _work_. For me, it’s usually fitness training.”

Allura looked down at where Shiro was gently holding her hands. She flipped them, wrapped her fingers around his, and squeezed, focusing on their warmth and the roughness of his callouses. She listened to his slow, steady breathing and tried to sync hers up with his. Finally, she looked back up at him and tentatively smiled. “Do you think I could join you?”

Shiro’s eyes crinkled. “Sure. I’d love the company.” He stood up, slowly, then pulled her up with him. Before she could even begin walking towards the door, he bent down and pressed the forgotten bowl into her hands. “ _After_ you eat lunch.”

She side-eyed him. “You’re _so_ annoying,” she drawled, then walked off.

The sound of his rolling laughter following close behind her made her feel more at peace than she had in days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A definitive muse for this fic was "[Here Comes a Thought](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMy8xlZHVLU)," or, as I like to call it, "The Dysphoria Song."


	6. Day 6 - Family (Lance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family isn't through blood; it's through choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: this fic went through, like, _four_ rewrites because I kept wanting to make it Super Angsty so I had to keep mentally smacking myself with a newspaper going "Your last two were super angsty, lighten it up a bit, you boob!"
> 
> It's still a little angsty, but I _tried_ for fluff. I really did.

All of the Paladins stumbled back into the main Lion Hub, panting and stumbling. One by one, they removed their helmets and ran their hands through their sweat-drenched hair. Allura clapped her hands together in excitement and bounced on her heels where she was standing next to a beaming Coran, yelling “You all did _wonderful_! That was your most successful training session yet!”

“ _Session?_ ” Pidge wheezed, sucking in air through squeaking gulps. Her face was lobster-red.

“More like a _marathon_ ,” Keith huffed, before swaying and bracing himself with his knees. Hunk stumbled to the wall and slowly slid down to the floor as if he’d just been shot in a soap opera. He even let out an agonized moan for good measure.

Shiro slowly caught his breath, blowing his bangs out of his eyes with each puff. “I… recognize… the benefit, but… did we… really… need to do… high stakes flying maneuvers… for _four hours?_ ”

“You called us out right before we went to bed, too! _That’s cheating!_ ” Pidge whined.

Allura crossed her arms and smiled. “We’ll never know when the Galra may strike, nor for how lo-” something caught her attention and she did a double-take, her smile falling off her face. “ _Lance_ , are you all right?!” 

The entire team snapped their heads towards Lance where he was propped against the wall, clawing at his chest and silently gasping for breath, his face swiftly darkening with purple and blue. Hunk launched himself off the ground and rushed to his side, scooping him up in his arms and running away while yelling “ _I got it BYE!_ ”

Lance kept struggling to breathe as he watched the wall panels of the hallways whiz by. Within a minute, Hunk arrived at Lance’s room and practically threw him on the bed, kicking the door panel to close the door behind him. He immediately began undoing the seals, zippers, and buckles of Lance’s upper armor and threw away pieces over his shoulder until he could finally reach Lance’s binder and haul it off in one smooth motion.

As soon as his binder was off of his chest Lance gasped in as deep a breath as he could and doubled over. Hunk anxiously hovered above him and chanted, “Breathe, dude, _breathe_!”

Lance shuddered and braced his back, groaning in between his hoarse pants. “I _am_ ,” he hissed.

Hunk finally relaxed, then immediately puffed up like an angry badger, planting his hands on his hips. “What the _hell were you thinking?_ ” Lance scowled at him. “How long did wear your binder today?”

Lance narrowed his eyes, then did the math in his head. “Sixteen…”

Hunk’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and his nostrils flared like a bull’s. “Cough.”

“ _No_ -”

Hunk shoved a finger toward his nose. “ _Cough_ before you get _pneumonia_ and _die!_ ”

Lance rolled his eyes, but coughed the wet feeling out of his lungs, making sharp pain bolt through his shoulders, back, and ribs. He groaned, defeated, and pulled his sheet up to cover his chest. “ _It hurts_ ,” he whined.

Hunk harrumphed and crossed his arms. “I hope you learned your lesson. Why didn’t you take it off after eight hours?!”

Lance scoffed and glanced up at him. “Because I was around everyone all _day_ , dude! I’m not going to let them fly in the breeze around Pidge! Or Keith! Or _Shiro!_ What if he hates me?!”

Hunk facepalmed. “He’s _not_ going to hate you. None of them are!”

“You don’t know that!”

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Lance screeched and threw himself down on the mattress, cocooning himself in the blankets. Hunk stiffened, then warily sidled up to the door and opened it, hiding Lance’s binder behind his back at the last second. Pidge, Keith, Shiro, Allura, and Coran were on the other side, doe-eyed with worry.

Pidge tried to peek around Hunk’s bulk, which pretty efficiently blocked the door. “Is Lance okay?”

Allura was anxiously wringing her hands. “It was not my intention to push you all beyond your limits… Well, it _was_ , but- I didn’t intend for anyone to actually get _hurt_. I want to apologize.”

Lance managed to poke his nose out from under the blankets. “Not your fault, Princess!” he wheezed.

“Yeah, Lance just, uhh…” Hunk began sweating again, against all odds. “ _Uhhhhh_ …”

Shiro glanced over Hunk’s head to the lump of blankets, then to Hunk, then to the others and sighed. “He’s all right, everyone. Hunk’s taking care of him, let’s give him some privacy.”

Pidge looked at Hunk and pressed, “But what _happ_ -”

“Pidge,” Shiro warned. Pidge ducked her head and muttered _sorry_.

As everyone began turning away, Keith looked past Hunk with a tight frown. “Take it easy,” he said, awkwardly, then hurried after the others.

Hunk closed the door again and let out a relieved breath. He put Lance’s binder away and sat down on the mattress, pulling the blanket away from Lance’s face to reveal his massive pout. He grinned.

“Now I just feel like a dick,” Lance muttered.

“Oh, _I_ see how it is,” Hunk teased, sticking his nose up in the air and crossing his arms. “You feel bad when you make the _others_ worried, but meanwhile, you’re shaving several years off my lifespan and giving me an early ulcer, but that’s just _fine_.”

Lance pulled the pillow out from under his head and shoved it into Hunk’s with a _poff_. “You’re not my mother, so stop acting passive aggressive like her, you jerk.”

Hunk pulled the pillow off his face and set it on his lap with a sigh. “Right. Sorry. It’s just… I really don’t think they’re like _that_. They seem like good people.”

Lance clenched his hands into fists. “I told you what happened with my family, Hunk. I can’t go through that again.”

“What if they can help?” Hunk prompted, quietly. “I know you’re, like, three days overdue for a T shot.”

Lance’s brow furrowed and he tucked his face into the mattress. “If… _When_ I come out to them tomorrow… Will you be there with me?”

“Well, _duh_.”

\--

**Six Months Later**

\--

Lance’s tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he and Pidge rabidly button-mashed their way through their third round of Space Invaders in the Castle lounge. Within seconds of each other, both of them got hit by enemy projectiles and exploded. “ _NOOO!_ ” they bellowed.

Shiro casually ruffled their hair as he walked by, making them swat him away with indignant scoffs. Keith poked their head up above the back of the couch and drawled, “Did you two die _again?_ ”

Lance twisted around and pointed at them. “You _shush!_ ” 

Keith smirked while Pidge threw the controller down. “This is dumb! The buttons on my controller aren’t registering right, I _moved!_ ”

Lance turned back around and elbowed her in the ribs. “Hey, it’s all right, Pidge! I’ve always wanted a little sister who I could destroy at video games.”

“Sure, by _twelve points_ ,” Pidge huffed, flicking his ear to distract him from her blush at the word ‘sister.’ Lance tried to flick her back, and the two quickly devolved into a mock slap fight.

The Paladins were taking a well-deserved day off to simply relax and forget about the plight of the universe. All of them were lounging around in nothing but their pajamas, including Lance, who was giving his chest a special break by not even wearing any of his sports bras under his T-shirt – something he never thought he’d be comfortable doing around people, ever. 

His team – his family, his _chosen_ family who chose him back for _who he really was_ – was the unique exception.

Heavy footsteps thundered distantly down the hallway as Shiro and Allura came back in with mugs of space coffee. Soon enough, Hunk ran into the lounge and hoisted up a rectangular box with Altean writing on it. Coran hurried in a few seconds later, out of breath and throwing a quick thumb’s up.

“Guys! Coran was showing me all of these old Altean board games on the ship and this one? Called Inzu?” His smile grew into a wicked grin. “It’s _Uno!_ It’s _literally_ Uno! _You know what that means?!_ ”

All the others shared a mutual look of amused resignation as Hunk released an evil cackle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I initially wrote out Lance's coming out scene to the team, but I later cut it, because I wanted the emphasis to be the comparison/contrast of where he was and how he felt at the beginning, to where he is and how he feels now.


	7. Day 7 - Tattoo (Pidge)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Pidge walks in on Allura, she accidentally makes a cool discovery.

Pidge trotted down the hallway towards Princess Allura’s room, reading and rereading the code for her polymorphic worm virus on her holo-tablet. If it worked, it would slowly spread through the Galra Naval Mainframe and retrieve the locations of every prison and work camp in Galra-controlled space while still being benign enough to miss detection. She already cleared it with Shiro and the rest of the team; now, all she needed was to get Allura to sign off on it and help them come up with an infiltration plan.

She touched the door panel, paused for the door to open, and walked into Allura’s room. “Princess Allura? Could you take a look at-” she finally looked up and saw Allura, naked, staring at her and frozen with shock.

Pidge screeched and sprang out around the corner of the door, sputtering, “ _Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!_ ”

Allura laughed as she hastily pulled her night robe over her shoulders and let it flow down to the ground. “It’s all right, Pidge, it was just an accident. I’m decent now – would you like to come in?”

Pidge slowly peeked around the doorframe, eyes wide and remorseful. Allura laughed again and waved her in, hopping up onto her mattress and crossing her legs. Pidge meekly inched in and stood at attention.

“So, uh… uh… I wanted to uh…” Pidge blinked, spacing out slightly.

Allura rolled her eyes and patted the space beside her. “We’re both women and we’re both trans, Pidge. You’re the literal best case scenario for who could have walked in on me.”

Pidge huffed and finally smiled. She skipped over and jumped onto the mattress next to Allura, setting the tablet aside and turning to face her. “I gotta ask – you have _tattoos?_ ”

Allura’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! You want to know about… my tattoos?”

“They’re so _beautiful!_ I only looked at them for a moment, but the designs were like – finely detailed geometric patterns of pink lines woven around your thighs and wrapping around your ribs, and were they _glowing_ slightly?”

Allura nodded, eyes growing distant and fond. “They’re a traditional form of Altean tattooing for a rite of passage called the _Altara_. Every Altean girl is supposed to receive them when they come of age – and, yes, the pigment is slightly luminescent. It’s a lovely tradition; the patterns are supposed to mirror each girl’s personality.” She blinked and forced herself back into the present, turning to look at Pidge again. “Would you like to get a closer look?” 

Pidge gasped and excitedly clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling. Allura smiled wider and pulled her robe up to the base of her thigh, angling her leg so Pidge could get a better view.

“ _Wow_ ,” Pidge breathed, eyes darting around every line and curve, taking in the juxtaposed triangles and diamonds and arrows, the curves and circles that unraveled from each other and melded into uniform patterns like circuit boards with small dots and speckles along and beside them. “You said this was… that this was a rite of passage for girls?”

“When I finally came out as female to Father, it was several years past the age where I should have received my _Altara_. Nevertheless, Father insisted that I go through it _immediately_. It wasn’t even a common practice anymore by the time I was born, but Father was a traditionalist, and he always took advantage of our ancient culture to make sure I felt loved and supported as my real gender.”

Pidge looked up from Allura’s thigh to meet her gaze, somber. “That sounds like a wonderful memory.”

Allura sighed and hung her head, her smile turning bittersweet. “I’m afraid it’s yet another piece of Altean culture that’s been lost forever.”

Pidge slowly leaned into her field of vision, batting her puppy-dog eyes. “Do you think I could go through the rite…?” she pleaded. “I mean – I already went through my _own_ culture’s rite of passage when my family held my Bat Mitzvah, and some of the best memories of my life belong to that day, but the tattoos are so wonderful and _cool_ and I can help keep your culture alive and… well...!” She looked away and ran a hand through her hair. “It’s for girls,” she said, quietly.

Allura sat up and gently chuckled, brushing a strand of Pidge’s hair behind her ear. “You’re still a few years away from coming of age for the _Altara_ , Pidge.”

Pidge looked at her and whined.

Allura quirked an eyebrow. “The tattoos are permanent, too. And they hurt.”

Pidge whined _louder_. 

A laugh bubbled out of Allura as she wrapped an arm around Pidge’s shoulders. “Well… I’ll tell you what we _can_ do: we could get out some paper and start sketching designs for the future?”

Pidge beamed at her and gasped, “ _Could we?_ ” When Allura nodded, Pidge threw herself around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Allura hesitated, surprised, then tightly squeezed her back.

When Pidge leaned away, Allura prompted, “Out of curiosity, what color would you like the pigment to be?”

Without hesitation, Pidge answered, “ _Green!_ ”

Allura smirked. “I should have known. Now come on, let’s go get some paper.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The images in my head for Allura's tattoos are similar to [this](https://www.instagram.com/p/8vPCgfFchm/) and [this](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/00/83/65/008365a7450134a0a1c07d9974573dd9.jpg), only covering her entire middle-body and neon pink, haha.


	8. Day 8 - Colors (All)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron finds a quiet moment to themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long ride. Getting these out in a timely schedule with relative quality often felt like toiling away at an antique coffee grinder, but I have no doubts that it was worth it.
> 
> All of the lovely comments from everyone who read these little fics of mine lit the fire in me to pour as much love and care into them as I could. Seeing people connect with and feel moved by my writing is a special kind of inspiration, so thank you, _everyone_ , for reading.
> 
> Remember to check out all the other wonderful content people created as fills at [@trans-legendary-defenders](https://trans-legendary-defenders.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> I leave you now with the grand finale of Trans Voltron Week.

The planet of Sylva was a dying, barren rock that used to be the lushest garden planet in the universe – before it became a quintessence mine for the Galra. Its unique trait of being able to rapidly recover from things that would normally classify as catastrophic mass extinction events meant that it became the backbone of the Galra military mining industry, able to be harvested over and over again. After ten millennia of pillaging, the view of the planet from space was nothing but a grey expanse of dust and ash-choked oceans. Its native people, the Sylvan – a race of extremely long-lived bioluminescent tree-like beings – were reduced to nothing more than workers, forced to mine minerals in the system’s asteroid belt.

Then, Voltron came and attacked the harvester fleet, swathing the planet in an aura of explosions. Coran, meanwhile, flew the Castle through the asteroid belt and liberated all twelve work camps, evacuating the Sylvan onboard. When the last remaining Galra ship banked away from the ruins of its fleet and jumped to FTL to escape, Allura destroyed the quintessence extractor on the planet itself, releasing and commanding the garden planet’s quintessence back into its dead soil and oceans.

Within minutes, the skies and waters cleared of dust; great billowing clouds rose up from the seas and valleys and condensed over the land, unleashing a torrent of rain onto the ground below, where millions upon millions of unique plant species sprang up out of the ground and stretched upwards in a swath of varying heights, making the planet’s surface bloom into a swirling collage of blues, reds, pinks, yellows, greens, purples, richest white, and purest black.

The Lions and the Castle landed beside the ruins of the extractor where it was swiftly being consumed by the plant life. The Castle doors opened and the Sylvan came streaming out to run, frolic, and dance barefoot in the rain, dragging Coran along with them. When they spotted Allura, they also pulled her into the celebrations, and then the Paladins when they emerged from their Lions. Within the hour, they were the honored heroes of the first Sylvan festival in over ten thousand years, crowned in flowers and at the heart of a fierce party within the shelter of a hollow Behemoth Tree – with no end in sight. Their only saving grace was that they were allowed to change out of their armor for comfort’s sake.

The rain finally stopped just before sunset. Shiro excused himself and walked out onto the damp grass, pausing only a moment to take a deep breath of the fresh air before making his way toward a clear hill at the edge of the forest. When he reached the crest, it revealed a vast expanse of rolling plains full of softly glowing wild-flowers as far as the eye could see. The sky was a soft periwinkle blue tinged with shades of pink, empty save for a few shadowy clouds and the large figures of Sylva’s three white moons. He slowly sat himself down in the grass and crossed his legs, enjoying the feeling of the soil against his palms. A cool breeze sighed across the plain, making the tallgrass ripple like waves. Shiro closed his eyes and smiled as he felt it flow through his hair.

After a few minutes, he heard footsteps coming up the hill behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw Lance walking towards him, looking surprised. Shiro grinned. “Well, hello, Lance.”

“Hey Shiro,” Lance chuckled, stopping beside him. “We’re missing you at the par-tay! What are you doing out here?”

“I had to get away from the commotion for a bit.” Shiro looked back out toward the horizon. “Because, you know.” He shrugged and vaguely waved his hand around his head.

“ _Oh_.” 

“You can go back and tell the others; I’ll be fine.”

Lance plopped himself down beside him and sprawled his legs out. “Nah, I think I’ll stay with you.”

Just as Shiro was about to reply, he heard two pairs of footsteps running up behind them; he looked and saw Keith and Hunk, waving at them.

“Hey, guys, whatcha lookin’ a- _whoa_.” Hunk came to a stop and looked out at the horizon, slack-jawed. Keith’s mouth formed a small ‘o.’

Shiro huffed a laugh. “We’re just enjoying the scenery. Care to join us?”

Keith and Hunk settled down on his other side just in time for Pidge to come wandering up the hill. Everyone laughed and waved her over; she gasped at the view and sandwiched herself in between Shiro and Lance. A few minutes later, Coran’s voice rang out, “Hey, everyone! Are you sightseeing without _us?!_ ”

Pidge hollered back, “Coran! Allura! Get over here, you’re missing out!”

Allura and Coran hurried up to the top of the hill, then slowly settled behind Shiro’s shoulders. Shiro took in the entire team clustered around him, gazing in awe at the sky, and ducked his head to hide a smile. The breeze was still cool and growing cooler still as the light faded, but he felt as if there was a thrumming through his veins that was keeping him warm. He looked back up just in time to see a rainbow appear along with the first stars of the night.

They sat like that in companionable and peaceful silence for a long while. Eventually, as the air grew crisp, Hunk and Lance huddled up against Shiro’s sides under his arms and Pidge somehow ended up in his lap; Keith burrowed into the warmth between him and Hunk while Allura and Coran pressed themselves against the backs of the Paladins, Allura resting her chin on Shiro’s shoulder and Coran slinging his arms around Allura and Lance.

When Sylva’s star was almost under the horizon, Hunk broke the silence with a content sigh. “You know, when you think about it, it’s incredible how far we’ve come.”

The others nodded. “It’s been a long few years,” Shiro mused.

Lance hummed. “I’m pretty sure if we had a nickel for every time we almost died, we could just _buy_ the Galra Empire from Zarkon.” That earned a hearty chuckle from the Earthlings and skeptical side-eyes from the Alteans.

“It’s more than just what we survived, though,” said Pidge. “I mean, just think back to the first time we were all together! Almost all of us were closeted, Lance and Keith had that stupid rivalry of theirs, Hunk couldn’t fly without throwing up-”

“Honestly, my _greatest_ improvement,” they agreed.

“-and we didn’t trust each other,” she finished.

Keith looked up at the stars. “I discovered I was genderfluid with you guys. You know something about me that my _dad_ doesn’t know, and…” he looked back at them all, “honestly, it doesn’t even feel weird. Because y’all _are_ my family.”

“Y’all,” said Lance, quietly.

“Oh my _God_.”

Hunk and Shiro snickered as Pidge drawled, “ _Right_ , the rivalry evolved into _obnoxious teasing_.”

“ _Before the moment is ruined_ ,” Allura snipped, glaring back and forth between Lance and Keith, “as time passed, I’ve come to regard you all as far more than Paladins.” Her expression softened as she looked at them all. “In my eyes, we are kin, and I love each and every one of you.”

Coran laughed and declared, “I worry about all of you just as much as I worry about Allura these days! Which, admittedly, is probably bad for my nerves, but I’m sure Allura is thrilled that my fretting is split six ways now instead of completely smothering her! Isn’t that right Princess?” Allura groaned. “She agrees!”

Lance nestled further against Shiro and Coran. “It’s… _really_ nice to have six people who’ll support you unconditionally.”

Hunk grinned. “The fact that we’re all trans is a big plus. Here I thought I’d never see another trans person in my life, and here _we_ all are, kicking evil butt and defending the universe!”

“The Legendary Trans Defenders!” Pidge cheered. The others laughed, delighted.

Keith looked up at Shiro and prompted, “What about you, Shiro? You got any emotional speeches for us?”

“Ha,” Shiro huffed, then swallowed.

Lance looked closer at him, then gasped. “Are you… crying?”

Everyone perked up at that. Shiro shook his head even as he blinked the moisture out of his eyes. “It’s just…” he began, then trailed off. He started again. “It’s just that… before I met all of you, I felt… alone. For a very long time. _Years_ before I was a Galra prisoner, even. But then I found all of you – or you all found me, and… I feel like I _belong_ , for the first time in my life. Allura? You’ve become my closest friend and confidant. Coran, you’ve never failed to make me smile or laugh when I need it, and you always seem to know how to get me out of my head. And Keith, Pidge, Lance, Hunk? You all have taught me things just as much as I’ve taught you, and I’m _so proud_ and honored to be your mentor. All of you, I… I stopped searching for home a long time ago, but I think I’ve finally found it.”

Everyone was quiet. Then, as one, the others all leaned in and pulled each other into a group hug, with Shiro at the center. They held each other for a long moment, eyes closed, smiling, then finally leaned away.

Coran clambered up onto his feet and prompted, “What do you say we all head back into the Castle and out of this cold?!” The team cheered and moved to get up.

Shiro helped pull Hunk and Allura onto their feet, then began walking back down the hill. “Let’s move out, Trans Defenders!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I listened to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rojPMESoiAA) on repeat while writing this, and it made me tear up a bit, tbh.
> 
> I'd also like to give a special shout-out to [this fanart](http://platonicharmonics.tumblr.com/post/155603653593/starry007-the-leader-and-a-good-team) for dissolving my writer's block for this prompt.


End file.
